Puncture The Roof and Set Me Free
by KirstenTheDestroyer
Summary: When a dinner gathering goes wrong, John and Karkat will have to put aside their sticky past and learn to deal with each other, if only just for the night. Humanstuck
1. Chapter 1

**So I haven't written since I was about 14. And it was terrible back then. So everyone should bare with me on this.**

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><p>And there he was again. Unable to sleep.<p>

It frustrated John to no end to be up at four in the god damn morning at the kitchen table, cup of coffee in his hand, watching his dog sleep at his feet.

Despite the annoyance, though, walking up at odd hours of the early morning gave him a clear mind like no cup of coffee could. Everything was peaceful. Quiet. And boring, considering nothing is usually on TV and no business in their right mind was open. But it gave John time to think. And this aspect pleased him.

He stared at the Boston terrier at his feet. How come she could sleep and he couldn't?

_Probably because she's a dog and has no worries_, He reminded himself. He took a gulp of coffee and upon setting it back down on the table, the terrier lifted her head and gave John a sad sort of look.

"I know, Lady, I'm sorry I'm not in bed," He cooed to her softly, trying not to wake his roommate. He bent to pet her and she laid her head back down on his foot.

Hours would pass like this. He would remain in that dingy kitchen space, coffee at hand, usually with a book or a puzzle of some sort, and Lady at his feet until it became a time where it was socially acceptable to be active. Jade would find him like this. She used to ask if something was troubling him, or how much sleep he got, or if he was generally okay. But that habit has long since worn out and instead she simply walks into the kitchen bleary-eyed without a word, makes herself a cup of tea, and sits beside John with a sigh.

This is how their days where.

"Morning," John greeted Jade this particular morning when she woke. It was around five o'clock now, and John was trying not to show his enthusiasm for her company. Unfortunately, he's quite poor at that.

"Morning," Jade croaked slightly as she spoke, "Chipper this morning, aren't we? Sleep well?" She rubbed her eyes and steered herself into the kitchen.

John was happy she was willing to speak with him this morning. Well, usually she's the one eager to converse while he would rather sit in silence for a while longer, but he was glad that she was still willing to be talkative.

"Naw, I'm just glad you're awake. Lady here was giving me the sad eyes, and I could only take it for so long," At his reply, Lady roused herself and trotted over to Jade, wagging her tail and jumping onto her hind legs slightly in excitement. Lady was a little slow to respond sometimes.

"Oh, good morning to you, too, Lady," Jade stooped and pet the terrier, then proceeded to microwave a mug of tea while continuing to speak to her in a baby voice.

"Do you want some eggs or something?" John asked, "I can cook something up real fast,"

"Would you really?" Jade looked back at him with a look of surprise and relief on her face. John usually only bakes and cooks for special occasions, "That would be wonderful! Honestly, I'm getting a little sick of Poptarts."

"Sweet, what do you want?" John stood and began to move to the kitchen.

"Maybe an omelet?" Jade replied hesitantly. She's not very knowledgeable in the kitchen and really is pretty unaware on what tastes good with what. One time she tried to cook eggplant in the microwave and combine it with a macaroni and cheese and bacon and green bean casserole. Thankfully, John was able to save that meal (God only knows how).

John opened the fridge and mused, "Well how about a cheese omelet with green onions and garlic powder?"

"Whatever you say, captain. I'm gonna shower while you do that," Jade left her untouched tea on the kitchen counter and disappeared into the bathroom. John shook his head at the tea and looked down at Lady, who was waiting patiently for John to feed her.

"I swear, Lady, if her head wasn't attached to her, she would've lost it."

John fed Lady then proceeded to cook. Despite the fact that he usually doesn't bother actually cooking (he would rather stick something frozen in the microwave then put forth the effort), it feels good when he actually tries. He's in the zone. Becoming one with the food or whatever. It's one of the only things he feels truly good at. That and being socially awkward. Yeah, that about sums it up his list of skills.

Before he knew it, the omelet was done and Jade was out of the shower. John set her up with at the table and scooped the omelet out of the pan and onto her plate. She took in the smell with a deep breath, "Wow, John, I've missed your cooking! Would you cook tonight for the dinner? I'll help if you want,"

"No that's fine," John said a little too quickly, "And besides, I wouldn't know what to make."

"Don't you have today off? You have the whole day to figure it out," Jade tucked into her omelet before it was cool and had to take a speedy gulp of her lukewarm tea to counteract it's boiling lava hot temperature.

John chuckled, "Careful, Jesus."

After Jade had composed herself, she continued, "But seriously, would you? You know everyone would love it."

"I dunno, Jade…" John trailed off. He really had no excuse to be turning her down on this. He's good at cooking…so why doesn't he?

"Pleeeeaaaase?" Jade begs. Lady yips a little by her feet as if to join in on the pleading.

John caved at the sad looks on the faces of the two girls that stared at him. He's a sucker for the puppy-dog-look, "Okay, fine, I'll do it. Jeez."

"Yes! Thank you, John," Jade beamed at him, then tried to inconspicuously give Lady a bit of her omelet.

"Yeah, yeah," He waved her off and proceeded to get some cereal.

"By the way," Jade began, picking at her breakfast with a fork, "About tonight…"

"What?" John put his own breakfast on hold to look at her. This was suspicious. And he didn't like it.

"Well…" Jade seemed to be having second thoughts about telling John whatever she had planned to tell him.

"Come on," John sighed. He'd rather she got it over with.

"Um. Well. I -" Her voice became the smallest whisper and he had no way of hearing what she said.

"Come again?"

She spat it out all at once, "WellIinvitedKarkat."

John stared at her in disbelief, "You what." It was a statement. A statement subtly saying _Why the fuck would you do that_.

"I know. I'm sorry," Jade began. She looked worried that he was going to blow up at her, "But we're able to invite anyone we want, right? And Fef can't come today, and I see Karkat working from time to time around campus and I asked him if he wanted to come and he said 'sure'…" She spilled this out as fast as she could then became completely silent.

John stared at her. Jade stared at the plate to avoid the disbelief in his eyes. Lady, unpleased with the sudden change of atmosphere, decided to leave the room.

"Uggh." John groaned, "It's okay. It's fine." But it wasn't okay. And it was far from fine. He didn't want anything to do with Karkat. Especially have him in John's apartment, at John's table, eating John's well-prepared food.

The rest of the morning passed in silence. When Jade was done eating she packed up and headed to class, leaving John with a problem.

John never wanted to see Karkat again. Why would Jade invite him? He didn't mind if they were friends or anything (well maybe he minded a little, but that wouldn't stop Jade from being friends with whomever the fuck she wanted to), but all John wanted was to keep separated from that douche.

He didn't want to think about this anymore. He decided to look up recipes instead.

He had an old recipe box from his dad that was passed down from Nana. He fished it out of the back of the spice cabinet and sat down at the table to dig through it. He finally settled upon a simple baked ziti and a garden salad. Easy. He even had some of the ingredients off hand, so that's less of a grocery expense on him.

John sighed and looked over to Lady who was giving him a concerned look.

It seemed she knew as well as he did that this was going to be an interesting night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to those who added this story to their alerts. That means so much to me, you have no idea! You guys are motivating me to keep updating this.**

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><p>Snow began to cake the windows of the dinghy apartment. Karkat leaned his face against his hand as he lazily stared out into the white street while he listened to Gamzee play some first-person shooter game. He wasn't sure which one. He also didn't particularly give a fuck. First-person shooters were a waste of his time; he was more of a third-person PC game kind of guy anyway. He never got the appeal of first-persons. He couldn't see a fucking thing and he always ended up getting too frustrated and almost broke something at one point or another. He wasn't even a big fan of gaming anyway. Too many douchebag cum-lickers for his tastes. He preferred comic books and jerking off. Very solitary.<p>

Which is why he was dreading the dinner he was about to attend. Not a solitary event. At all. And it included John "Cock-Muffin" Egbert. Speaking of…

"So I'm going to Jade and John's place later for dinner," He finally piped up to his roommate. He decided that the last minute was the best time to mention this so he wouldn't have time to be interrogated on the damn subject. He already hated himself enough for agreeing. But he owed Jade, and this was the best way to make up that debt.

Karkat heard the game pause and Gamzee shift in his seat, "Are you motherfucking serious?"

He turned to see Gamzee giving him a look of surprise, concern and 'is this really a good idea?'

"Yes." Karkat stated firmly, "Jade invited me. Well…" he spun back to the window, "more like distracted me with her 'I want something' voice then tripped me with her guilt rope into the 'Sure I'll go' position."

"That didn't make any motherfucking sense," Gamzee pointed out, "But what motherfucking miracle convinced her to invite you?" Karkat had hoped his roommate would be too eager to play his game and would just drop it, but apparently he's too much of a curious fuck for that.

"'Cause her girlfriend was occupied tonight so she decided to invite me, alright?" he snapped, "Jegus, when did you become so fucking curious? While I'm at it, I might as well pour my while damn life fucking story." What the fuck was this asshole getting at?

Gamzee chuckled, "I already know most of that, best friend," he said shit like that just to piss him off, Karkat was sure of it, "But seriously, does that mean you and John are gonna stop being motherfucking pansies and just be friends again? Because that, my friend, would be one motherfucking miracle."

Karkat sighed heavily. Gamzee had been up in his face about the whole John thing for months now and he's about had enough of this clown's shit

He turned, "You know what, Gamzee, Fuck you. What about that shit with you and Tavros, huh? Let's just focus on that for a sucking second."

"Well-" Gamzee began, obviously more than willing to discuss the matter, which Karkat did _not_ want to fucking do.

"Never mind, I don't fucking care. No more fucking matchmaker horseshit for you," he moved to the door and grabbed his jacket off the coat hanger," I'll see you later, fuckass."

"Careful in the-" the door slam cut him off. Karkat pulled on his jacket and walked out into the snow.

Fuck it was cold. And there was a lot more snow than he originally thought. And more wind. Fucking mother nature. Fucking December. Fucking Jade. Fucking John. Fuck. Fuck 'em all.

Damn it, he should have grabbed his hat and scarf. All he's wearing is his black turtleneck (Gamzee says it makes him look like a 'motherfucking tool' but Karkat happens to like it, so Gamzee can go fuck himself) and his poufy red jacket red jacket with faux fur lining the hood. It did little to repeal the cold, but it was better than nothing. He flipped up his hood, buried his hands in his pockets, and trekked through it. Sometimes, he wished he had a car.

The bus was the next best thing.

About three blocks away was the bus stop that would take him to Jade and John's. He waiting in the blizzard for what seemed like forever until the bus rolled up. He practically ran on when the doors opened. He brushed himself off, dropped coins into the receiver, and sat. When he checked his phone, he realized he was painfully on-time. The last thing he wanted was to roll into John "Dick-kicker" Egbert's little party on-time. It gave the impression that he _cared_.

But considering the circumstances, he had little choice.

Karkat jumped off the bus a few blocks from Jade and John's complex. The snow was already piled up past his damn ankles and had completely soaked through his good-for-nothing converse in a manner of minutes. He let out a groan. _Never again, Jade. Never a-fucking-gain._

God, he felt like he barely made it to the complex without getting fucking frostbite. He swears, if anyone gives him a hard time, he'll kill 'em.

He checked his phone again. Dammit. Even with the slow going through that shitty blizzard, he's still on-time. Maybe he could have a quick smoke before he went in? Karkat stared at the complex for a while before deciding it wasn't the best idea. For one, it was cold as Satan's balls out here, and two, he had already promised Jade he would try to stop. But then again. He agreed to 'try.' And according to Yoda, there is no try.

Fuck. That's exactly some sort of shit John would say, the fucking fruity movie bastard. Fuck it, Karkat pulled out a cigarette just to spite him. Trying to light the damn thing was hard as fuck, though, with all the wind and shitty as fuck snow. After the fifth failed attempt, he gave up and decided to just hold it between his lips and nibble at the filter. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets and simply stood in the fucking cold developing frostbite just to avoid John for a few more minutes. It was immature. Karkat knew that as well as anybody. But fuck being the bigger person for now. It wasn't worth it.

"Karkat?"

He jerked his head in the direction of the familiar voice.

Kanaya stared back at him with concern. Rose stood closely next to her with that straight poker face she always has on. It annoyed Karkat to see her so in control of her emotions. He was always a bomb waiting to go off and wore his damn emotions on his sleeves for everyone to fucking see. He's sure that anyone on the street could just point at him and announce, 'Yeah, that fuckass is totally feeling sad as fuck right now.' It was the shittiest thing about his temper. No control. Whereas Rose seems to have snuck into his room at night, punched him in the dick, and took all of his emotional control just for the hell of it. To see him squirm. Fuck, now that's just paranoid and uncalled for. Rose was always decent to him. He needs to give her more slack than that.

"Karkat, are you feeling alright?" Kanaya continued when he didn't respond.

He jumped out of his thoughts, "Eh? Oh, yeah, fine as fuck…" he grabbed his cigarette out of his mouth and rolled his tongue over his lip ring, "You guys going to their fruity dinner party shit?" He gestured to the apartment complex.

"Yes, the invite was extended to us," Kanaya replied, "Though I do not believe the gathering will include the use of fruit. Or if it did, it was not revealed to us, nor was the intention of the use of the fruit, nor the-"

"Kanaya," Rose gave the smallest smile, "Ranting."

It was too fucking cute when they did shit like that. It made Karkat a little sick.

Rose turned her attention to him then, "Karkat, would you like to walk up with us?"

He was surprised by this. His response was equally flustered, "Oh. Uh. Gah. I'll just. I'll be up in a minute."

Rose nodded and without further discussion, the pair entered the complex and out of the blizzard.

Karkat sighed. He stuck his unlit cigarette back in his mouth. Shit, he was getting nervous. His stomach was starting to make flips and his heart was pounding in his ears. Fuck. This was it. He dropped his cigarette into the snow and turned to open the door to the apartment.

Oh, he had almost forgotten what it meant to be warm. He had been standing in that cluster-snow-fuck for so long; he had started to go numb. Why the fuck wasn't this gathering postponed due to the storm? It's the dumbest idea to travel across the fucking city in fucking blizzard shit. It's dangerous. What the fuck is John thinking? He's probably not thinking, actually, the asswipe.

Four floors up, left, second on the right. 407. Karkat remembered these directions from about a year or two ago. He and John would hang out a lot before their falling out. Karkat wasn't even sure exactly what fucking happened between the two of them. They had a little sexual experiment fun (on John's part. He was always sure that he wasn't gay when Karkat knew for a fact that the guy was as straight as a fucking rainbow. Karkat just had sexual fun that night) together after drinking once. The next morning, John started acting funny. Then they started seeing each other less and less, then one day, nothing. John wanted nothing to do with Karkat. This was the most hurtful thing anyone had done to him. He never got a proper fucking explanation from that dickwad and he would damn well like one.

But not tonight.

Tonight he had to behave for Jade.

He ran his hand through his dirty blonde hair and finally knocked at apartment 407.


	3. Chapter 3

**You guys! Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed/alerted this story. You guys seriously make my day! You make me want to keep going. Now the point of view changes a couple of times in this chapter, but I tried to make it as fluid as possible. Let me know.**

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><p>To Karkat's dismay, it was John who opened the door.<p>

Fuck, he looked good. Like, really fucking good. Karkat had always thought John was attractive, but _damn_, he had forgotten just how flustered John Egbert could make him. He had boyish charm about him and had about three inches on Karkat's meager as fuck five foot eight. He wore some hipster-influenced bullshit: a fucking grey v-neck with a green cardigan. Seriously? What the fuck was he thinking when he dressed himself? But, strangely, it seemed to suit him, especially with those thick black rimmed glasses of his. And plus, it showed off the tip of his chest tattoo, which was starting to turn Karkat on a bit.

_Fuck. No. Absolutely not, Karkat. You will not fucking fall for that tool again, _he had to remind himself firmly.

"Oh, hey," John said awkwardly with a painfully false smile.

Karkat didn't really say anything. He just sort of stared. Like a fucking moron. Only the sound of Jade from within the apartment tore him from his thoughts, "Karkat! I'm so glad you made it!" She practically shoved past John (to Karkat's amusement) and was about to go in for a hug when she stopped, "Jeez, you're completely soaked! Come in and shed some of those wet things so I can throw them in the dryer for you."

She practically dragged Karkat in giving him no fucking choice on the matter, shoving John out of the way again. Jade forcibly removed his jacket and opened a cabinet that revealed a washer and dryer stacked on top of each other. Karkat always thought that was the weirdest fucking place to put the laundry room, but there was really no other place to keep that sort of stuff. He was so glad his place had an actual damn room for those appliances, even if it didn't have bedrooms. She opened the bottom machine and tossed in his jacket, "Come on, take off those shoes. And socks while you're at it," she demanded as she fumbled in the closet for what he could only guess was a dryer sheet.

"I'm gonna, ya know, check on the food," John announced before moving past Karkat. He had almost forgotten the fucker was standing there. Right next to him. It was the closest they had been in…he don't even remember how damn long. Either way, he was glad John was on the other side of the apartment, even if it was only a small distance.

"Come on," Jade urged again, "I can even get you some change of clothes if you want."

"What? No!" Karkat immediately protested, "I am not stripping to my fucking boxers in the middle of your living room. What do you think this is, a peep show? Am I the entertainment now?"

"Calm down, jeez," she laughed, "I was just offering. Now hurry and give me your shoes and socks."

She had become very good at brushing off his bullshit. It was comforting in a way, he guessed, even if outwardly he demonstrated frustration instead of gratitude. 'Cause he's just fucking better at being frustrated. It's familiar.

So Karkat bent and untied his shoes and kicked them off in Jade's general direction. As she gathered them, he hopped on first one foot then another to remove his socks. He looked like a damned fool while doing this, but he tried not to give a shit. It wouldn't be the first time he looked like a fucking dipshit and it sure as hell wasn't going to be the last.

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><p>Oh. Christ. Jade had just invited Karkat to undress in their living room.<p>

With him looking all scruffy and good.

In that turtleneck that he loved.

With a new piercing that he found himself wanting to roll his tongue over.

_Wait. No. Damn. This is Karkat we're talking about here. No thoughts like that, John. Stop that. This instant, _he tried to remind himself.

But the more he tried to push out those very thoughts, the more he actually thought about it. God, this was going to be a long night.

"I'm gonna, ya know, check on the food," John dismissed himself awkwardly. He scurried into the kitchen as fast as possible.

Damn it, he shouldn't have answered the door. He totally thought it was going to be Dave and Terezi, not Karkat Vantas. He wasn't sure if he could do this. Karkat revives thoughts and feelings that confuse John's poor mind. This is why they stopped communicating a long time ago. John didn't know how to deal with this sort of stuff. He's bad at feelings. He's even worse with talking about them. He'd rather just ignore the problem than confront it. It's terrifying, and people could easily get hurt. But he thought maybe that mindset is what made this so complicated in the first place.

No, 'maybe' is the wrong word. He meant 'sure as damn sunshine.'

He opened the oven to pretend he was actually doing what he excused himself for. Then closed it again without really looking at the ziti. Then tossed the salad for the fifth time. All while listening to Jade and Karkat talk in the other room.

"Troubles?" came a much close voice.

John turned. Rose stood in the eating area just next to the kitchen, looking a little concerned. She doesn't often reveal her emotions like that, so John knew that she knew that this was kind of def con red.

But instead of admitting that, he put on a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be fine."

"'I _am_ fine' and 'I _will be_ fine' are two separate things," Rose pointed out. "Which one is it?" Damn, she's too good at that reading-people-therapy thing. He should know he couldn't hide anything from Rose no matter how hard he tried. But that didn't seem to stop him.

He let out a rather long sigh, "I am. And will continue to be. Fine, that is."

Rose eyed him. "Right. Whatever you say. I just want you to know that I can see right through that guise, sir, and I know that you are far from fine," She then said more softly and less motherly, "I'm here for you, alright?"

John was taken aback. Rose rarely gets sentimental like that. "Well, thanks," was the only reply John could think of.

With that, Rose left him to his kitchen. And his thoughts.

Oh no, he did not want to be alone with those. He abandoned the salad back in the refrigerator and moved back into the living room. Even if it occupied Karkat, it was better than sitting alone confusing himself.

The three guests and the other host were commencing in idle chit-chat mostly fueled by Jade and Kanaya. Once the pair of them starts something like that, there's no stopping them. They could keep a conversation going to hours, and while sometimes it was nice in awkward situations such as these, it has the potential to get annoying pretty fast.

In this particular case, John was thankful.

Jade almost immediately acknowledged him when he entered, "So when's dinner served, cook?"

"Oh, it's almost done," John reported, "But I would rather wait until Dave and Terezi get here. Did they send a text to you about not coming or being late or something?"

"John, it's only five after. You know Dave likes to be 'ironically late,' whatever that means," she waved away his concern. But the snow was getting really bad outside. What if they were stuck or hurt?

But John didn't mention this. He instead swallowed these concerns and agreed with Jade that he was being paranoid.

Jade then turned back to the company and asked Rose about school, and the conversation went off from there. John didn't follow it, instead he spaced off at the snow, or the wall, or anything other than Karkat, who seemed to also be doing the same thing. But he found himself wanting to look. Wanting to stare, actually. Karkat appeared to be less well kept than John remembered him, but that 'I don't give a fuck' look worked for him.

This went on for about five minutes longer, probably more. It definitely felt like more. At one point, he and Karkat caught each other's eye then quickly looked away. What was this, middle school? Seriously, this was getting ridiculous, but he certainly didn't want to be the one to break the ice. Confrontation. Still an issue.

John was so relieved when a knock finally came at the door. He jumped up and walked to the door a little too fast and ended up startling the group. He threw open the door to Terezi and Dave. Thank the Lord.

"Sorry we're late," Dave greeted, inviting himself in with Terezi's arm slung around his, "Genius here decided to get her tongue frozen to a light post," He gestured to Terezi.

"Hey, screw you. It seemed like a great life experience that everyone should have," Terezi defended. Her argument was weak as hell, but everyone seemed to ignore it, "So, we got the usual crew here today?" she asked. She asked these types of questions frequently. She likes to know who's around and such considering her vision is impaired. Her predicament was strange. She's not completely blind, but she has intense blurry tunnel vision that would take lens the sizes of fists to repair. Not like Dave doesn't have his own vision problems being albino and all. He just covers it up with apathy and sunglasses.

"Close," Jade replied, standing, "Except Karkat replaced Feferi tonight. She had unavoidable work. Can I take coats? I'm already drying Karkat's things, I can throw yours in, too,"

"Ooh, Karkat? I haven't seen that kid in forever. Show yourself, ya tricky hobbit," Terezi demanded, taking off her coat and holding it in front of her. Jade took it as well as Dave's and began fumbling with the dryer again.

"I'm not a hobbit! You're just tall, okay?" Karkat shouted from his place on the couch.

Terezi turned, "Aah, there you are. How've you been, buddy?" As she spoke to him, Dave guided her to a seat and whispered for her to sit, then began to remove her shoes for her.

Dave was always sweet to her. He never treated anyone else that way, not that John ever saw. They weren't even officially dating and he treated her like a queen. Sure he could still be is dry and sarcastic self to her and she always responded with something spicy, but at the end of the day, they adore each other. It was almost painful to watch because John wanted that.

Karkat and Terezi proceeded to have their catch up conversation, he complaining about working at the university and Terezi mentioning not knowing what to do with her life. He watched as Dave walked up to Rose and asked, "Wassup, sistah?" and they did their sibling fist-pound thing. When Jade had finished with the laundry, she continued speaking with Kanaya about whatever subject they had left off on.

And John simply sat. He didn't want to interrupt the other conversations, though he was pretty curious about what Dave had been up to recently. Instead he discreetly stood and walked back to the kitchen. He pulled out the ziti and the salad and began to set up the table while the others conversed. He tried not to think as he did this. But it failed. He was just feeling kind of alone. He usually didn't mind being the only one not paired up, but today it was hitting him really hard. Mostly because Karkat was here. And John knew that things between them were messy because of him. Maybe it was guilt that was settling in his stomach. But he didn't really know exactly what part to feel sorry for.

"Hey. Fuckass."

John jumped. Karkat was leaning in the doorway to the kitchen with his arms crossed. He wasn't looking at John and seemed to be blushing ever so slightly. He brushed his tongue over his lip ring nervously before asking, "Do you need help?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh my god you guuuuys! I'm so happy with all the reviews and alerts you guys are giving me. You guys seriously make me so happy, you have no idea. I love you guys, and thank you again. You encourage me to keep this going.**

**So I was asked something that I thought I should answer here: I imagine that John would usually take bottom during sex, but once in a while he'll top just to fluster Karkat because that sounds like a bucket of fun (pun intended ha ha I'm hilarious).**

**Anyway, enjoy, and if you guys have anymore comments or questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to tell me.**

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><p>Damn, he had done Jade's bidding <em>again<em>. Here he was, asking John if he wanted help setting his shitty table for his shitty dinner (it actually smelt really good, but there was no way Karkat would ever admit that) all because Jade gave him her damn puppy-dog eyes. Why didn't he have a fucking defense mechanism against that yet? He would have to ask Feferi what she does to combat that trickery.

John seemed frozen in place, staring at Karkat with a fucking deer-in-the-headlights look. The plate in his hand barely touched the table and his mouth hung open ever so slightly. He could see John's face begin to flush. It made Karkat blush more. He tried to avoid actually looking at the gaping fool, but it was a little hard considering he looked so fucking ridiculous and attractive. Wait. Not attractive. Stupid. He looked stupid.

Karkat's heart pounded in his ears. He couldn't tell if the others were eavesdropping or not, but they probably were, the bastards. This wasn't a good time to have a heart-to-fucking-heart with dear ol' Egbert here. There were people around. He had always imagined this meeting to be private, not a fucking scene for their friends to enjoy and eat popcorn to. This was wrong. They shouldn't be talking.

He got fed up waiting for John to recuperate, "Are you just gonna fucking stand there like an idiot or are you gonna answer me, asshat?" He shifted his wait slightly so he could stand with a little more sass for further emphasis.

This seemed to grab the fucker's attention.

"Um, ah, I-I think I've got it, but…thanks," John looked away and proceeded with his chore twice as fast as he was doing it before.

Karkat turned to Jade, who was, as he predicted, eavesdropping. He gestured to her in a 'He's being stubborn, what the hell do you want from me?' sort of way. She gave encouraging wrist flicks as is to say, 'Go on, keep trying, it'll work." Her Boston terrier took that moment to finally come in from the other room (presumably a bedroom where she was napping. She as kind of old and didn't get too enthused by visitors too much anymore). She wagged her tail and licked his toes as if to agree with Jade. Karkat thought Lady's sudden appearance as awfully fucking suspicious, as if Jade summoned her in for some damn puppy-eye backup. Those two were a sneaky pair.

Karkat made a strange motion to indicate defeat: he flopped his arms, shrugged, looked at the window, and made an exaggerated sigh all at once. He looked like a shitty fucking Neanderthal when he did it.

He turned back to John who was now fumbling with silverware. He appeared unaware to the odd exchange that just took place, but John was usually pretty damned oblivious to most things which is how people could sneak up on him so easily. Karkat walked over to him and took the utensils from his grip rather forcefully and stated, "Get the bowls, ya twitching asshole."

But instead of following instructions, John just stared at him in disbelief as he picked up the task. God, did Karkat have to baby the fruity douche? "Well? Get the fuck moving, and get napkins while you're at it. This table ain't gonna set itself, and the food's gonna go bad if you don't get your fruity douche ass into gear. Jesus…" Karkat said a little too loudly. He didn't really mean to go off like that, but it felt really fucking good.

And it got John to actually do what he fucking wanted him to do. Took him long enough.

In a manner of seconds, the table was ready and everyone began to gather around it, including Lady. They began complimenting John on the smell and look of the meal, and Karkat couldn't help but agree (but again, he would never verbally admit that).

They sat and ate, talking and laughing as Karkat could only assume as what they always do. He didn't really understand this ritual they had. It was kind of fucking stupid. Seriously, why would they meet once a week? What the fuck could have happened in a week that they needed to update each other on? How do they not get tired of each other? Karkat was already tired of them and he wasn't even here all the damned time like they apparently are. They need to fucking get away from each other, seriously. This was just stupid.

But to each their own, he supposed. If they were happy, why the fuck did he care?

He didn't, he realized. He was just complaining for the sake of complaining. Because that's his only skill. Well, that and masturbating. He's had too much practice at both.

Midway through the meal, the lights flickered.

"Oh shit," Dave stated, "Those lights might go out. You guys got flashlights, right? And an Ouija board with spooky candles? 'Cause this'll be the shittiest black out if you don't have the essentials,"

"Uh, yeah, I think we do," John looked over to Jade to confirm this guess.

"I'll go look for them, just in case," Jade stood and went on the hunt with her trusty hound at her heels.

"Ouija boards don't actually work, do they?" Kanaya asked, "It's always someone in the circle pushing the pointer. Because it seems a little strange that spirits would be willing to partake in something so childish."

"Kanaya, the mystery is the fun!" Terezi pointed out, "Who cares if it's real, it's entertaining."

"Personally, I believe in spirits and ghostly powers," Rose stated, "But I might have to agree with Kanaya; spirits probably have better things to do than interact with a bunch of silly twenty-something-year-olds."

The conversation continued as such for a while. They watched the lights flicker a couple more times before Jade returned with her spoils, "You guys should really look outside," she advised, setting a few board games, a flashlight, candles, and a book of matches on the coffee table.

The group began to congregate around the window in the living room. They gasped and murmured in awe. The snow was literally as tall as Karkat, maybe even taller. Though the streets had been plowed, they didn't look much better than the rest of the landscape. Not a fucking thing was recognizable in the piles of white. Cars, streetlamps, trees, everything, completely covered in feet of snow.

"Holy fuck," Karkat breathed. He couldn't help it. That was a lot of fucking snow. And it was still coming.

"Yeah," Jade agreed. She grabbed the remote for the small TV and turned it onto the news. The group then began to gather around the television instead, listening to the report on how the snow was causing a shit ton of power outages, closed streets, and a metric fuck-ton of people stuck in various airports, stadiums, and businesses. This apparently was happening in more than one or two states, too. The entire fucking Midwest and parts of New England were experiencing the same phenomenon.

"Shit, son," Dave said, "Okay, what the fuck is this? Mother Nature throwing a fucking temper tantrum or some shit? Someone needs to tell her to calm her tits, seriously."

Thunder sounded outside as if to answer Dave. The lights flickered again. Lady yipped from under the coffee table. Her frightened little face stared up at them.

Terezi seemed to be particularly flustered by this, "Was that thunder? Are we seriously having thunder snow right now?"

"It appears that way," John replied, moving back to the window.

"These lights can't last forever," Rose observed, "We need to start preparing. Let's light those candles before-"

The apartment went dark.

"Fuck," the statement just kind of spilled out of Karkat's mouth. He heard Lady whine slightly.

"Come here, baby, its okay," Jade cooed to the terrier. She turned on the flashlight and set it up so it illuminated most of the room, then took Lady into her arms and settled on the couch with the terrified pooch on her lap. Rose took up the responsibility of lighting the candles. Thunder sounded again, louder this time, and Terezi jumped. Oh, right. Karkat forgot that Terezi was afraid of thunder. What a fucking predicament they were in. Dave took her into his arms and whispered what Karkat could only assume was comforting words into her ear. The rest of the group seemed unfazed by the new conditions they found themselves in.

"Well," John began, still standing beside the window, "I guess you're all staying here tonight."

Wait. What. No. Fuck no. There was no fucking way. Karkat had already stayed in this godforsaken apartment for far too long. He had no intention of staying whatsoever. He didn't care how much snow was outside. He would swim through a fucking ocean of snow and risk getting legitimate frostbite just to get away from this place.

"Oh, _fuck_ that," his mouth had run away with his thoughts again. But he decided to just let it happen, "No fucking way. I'm not staying at this fruity rumpus asshole factory any longer than I need to. I'm going the fuck home." Karkat went to the dryer and began to dig through the warm clothes to find his things.

"Have you fucking looked outside, you fucking idiot?" John raised his voice, "You'll be buried before you even get halfway. Just fucking stay here and leave first thing in the morning."

John didn't often curse that much at people let alone raise his voice. Karkat decided to ignore these signs, though, and slipped on his socks and jacket anyway.

"Karkat," Jade was suddenly beside him. She had abandoned Lady on the couch and Kanaya decided to take up the job of soothing her. Jade continued, "Please, stay. You know as well as I do that leaving is a bad idea. You're just being stubborn and moody."

"Oh, yeah, telling me what my flaws are is a great way to get me to do what you want. While you're at it, why not give me a paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?" Karkat snapped. Oh shit, he realized he used a Princess Bride quote. That's John's fucking influence. It made him want to leave even more.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Jade barked back. She immediately recomposed herself, though, and said in a significantly calmer tone, "We're worried about you. We'll be terrified if you actually leave, and you know one of us will follow you and get you to come back even if you do storm out. Please. It'll be easier on everyone if you just stay. At least for now."

Fuck. Jade knew exactly how to pull his strings. She was like his damn puppet master or some shit. And he was a sucker for it every time. He definitely needed to talk to Feferi about this problem. He was tired of succumbing to her witchy antics.

"Damn it, fine, you fucking win, you happy?" Karkat mumbled in defeat. Jade didn't answer. Instead she slid his jacket off his shoulders and hung it by the door.

She spun back to the group with a smile, "So, board games, anyone?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! I have a life and stuff, so that sort of got in the way. Anyway, thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts! You guys seriously make me so happy every time you show your appreciation. I wouldn't be continuing this story if it weren't for you people.**

**I got a question from a reviewer: will I ever write a story about what happened between Gamzee and Tavros?**

**I hadn't thought of it. I had thought of a Jade/Feferi and a John/Vriska story/oneshot, but those are up in the air. I'm focusing my attention on this for now.**

**But thank you guys again for being so amazing! I hope you enjoy this chapter, though it's a little shorter than the others whoops**

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><p>Karkat's eyes adjusted to the lack of light pretty quickly. As he absently moved beads around a mancala board, he watched the others as they partook in their own shitty little entertainment. They had decided to save the Ouija board for the later hours of the night (for a spookier effect or some other bullshit) and split their antics into groups. On the coffee table was The Game of Life surrounded by John, Dave, and Rose. At the newly cleaned off dining room table was Jade trying to teach Terezi how to play Mouse Trap (which, from what Karkat could hear, wasn't too successful). Then there was himself and Kanaya sitting on the floor in the space between with a mancala board. Neither of them really remembered how to play the damned game, so they sort of made up the rules a little bit here and there.<p>

"I don't believe that's a legitimate move," Kanaya commented on Karkat's idle marble shifting.

"Like we're actually legitimately playing the damn game," he replied dryly, continuing to fuck with the colorful stones and trying to discretely glace at John out of the corner of his eye.

"What transpired between the two of you?" Kanaya asked. Apparently he wasn't being discrete enough, "Forgive me if I pry, I am simply not familiar with the details. And I feel obligated to know and assist in any way I can considering both you and John are close friends of mine. These harsh feelings between you two are unsettling, and-"

"Jesus, Kanaya, you talk a hell of a whole lot," Karkat interrupted, "How does Rose deal with you?"

That came out a lot fucking harsher than he meant it. Of all the people here, Kanaya is the one he should be as nice as possible to. There's some unspoken bond between them, as fruity as that sounds, like they're meant to help each other. She keeps him sane, and he keeps her fucking mouth from running away with her. Karkat actually even considers himself closer to Kanaya than he is with Gamzee. Even if the two of them don't see each other for months at a time, they act like it was only yesterday when they last spoke.

"This is not about the condition of the relationship between Rose and me. This is about how you and John cannot even speak to each other without fighting when you two were such close friends when he was with Vriska," Kanaya pointed out forcefully, "Now I would like to know what happened so I can lend my help."

Karkat often feels like Kanaya helps him more than he's ever helped her. It makes him feel terrible fucking bastard when he thinks about it for too long. With all his alone time, though, he always ends up thinking more than he should. He just can't turn off his damn mind sometimes.

He supposes there was that one time where he comforted her when Rose was in a car accident and had to go to the hospital. Despite the fact that her injuries were minimal, Kanaya couldn't calm down. She called Karkat and he got to her as soon as he could. Kanaya's condition scared Karkat. She was always so collected, but here she was, sitting in the waiting area picking at her nails, tapping her foot frantically, and barely speaking. Karkat did everything he could to get good news about Rose's condition so Kanaya would release some of the tension that clenched her whole body.

But he was just doing what anyone would do.

Karkat didn't reply to Kanaya's inquiry. He continued messing with those shitty little marbles instead. He then glanced back up at John, who was laughing at something Dave had just said. Fuck, what did happen between them? It hurt Karkat too much to think about. His heart would actually fucking ache when he did. His stomach would twist into knots and his mouth would go dry and occasionally his palms would sweat. He hated this feeling. It made him tear up and hate his fucking weak ass that much more.

"Kanaya, please," he whispered. Fuck. Damn it. Shit. He could feel himself tearing up, "I would rather just not talk about it."

Kanaya stared at him with a sympathetic look in her eyes. She nodded, "I just want it to be very clear that I am here to help you, alright?"

He nodded. He grabbed the little tea candle positioned next to them and excused himself. He then practically ran to the fucking bathroom.

He couldn't believe that he went to hide in the fucking bathroom. Look, it's fucking stupid fruit ass Karkat who can't deal with his own feelings. Fucking stupid.

But he didn't cry. His face was red and his eyes were puffy, but he just wiped the water that threatened to fall from his eyes with the back of his hand and blew his nose on a bit of toilet paper. Fuck. He decided to take a piss to validate his restroom visit. He prepared the toilet before unzipping and wielding his dick. He examined it briefly as he urinated. It wasn't too big, actually. Only about four inches. Erect, though, it grew to more like nine inches. He was always really self conscious about this. Pretty much every time he took a leak he would think about it. Which was stupid. And the last fucking thing he should be worrying about. Yet here he was. Thinking about it.

When he revealed this weakness to Eridan (the pair of them had had a small fling a few years back), he was told, "Don't worry about it, Kar. Some people are growers, not showers,"

He realized suddenly that he's spent an abnormally long time in the facilities. He quickly wrapped it up and emerged to find the group sitting in a circle.

"You want ice cream, Karkat?" Jade asked, about to shovel a spoonful of the frozen treat into her mouth, "We realized that there were perishables in the fridge that we should probably eat. You want something?"

Karkat moved closer and replied, "Uh, yeah I fucking guess. Whatcha got?"

"John can show you," Jade said.

John jerked is head towards her with a mouthful of ice cream. Obviously, the poor fruit was not aware that she would pull this. Again. He recuperated pretty quickly, though, and said, face still full of creamy frozen heaven (Wait. No. Shitty frozen douche treat. Yes.), "Yaa, comm wit mee," he stood and began to move toward the kitchen.

"Didn't your dad teach you some fucking manners, Egbert?" Karkat shot. Whether John heard him or not, Karkat couldn't tell. He followed anyhow. Lady jumped up and trotted behind them in hopes of getting some extra food.

In the kitchen, various containers were set out on the counters. John watched him awkwardly as he examined each of them, then finally decided on partaking in the ice cream, the damn sinfully delicious and irresistible asshole.

"I'll get you a bowl," John offered when Karkat had made his final decision.

"Why are you being so fucking nice to me?" It kind of slipped out. That seemed to be happening a lot that evening.

John looked at him. They stared at each other for a while, like he was trying to formulate a good answer, "For our friends, dude. I don't want to make this more painful than it has to be,"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have made it painful as fuck to begin with, fuckass. Ever thought of that?" Oh god, his mouth was running away. There is goes. It's already ten miles away. Movin' at the fucking speed of light. Halfway across the globe. Fuck. He had no control over where this shit went anymore. Jesus, what a shit pickle he was in.

"You don't know anything about what why there's a problem, so stop," John's temper was rising, "Let's just get through the night, okay?"

"No." And there it goes again, "No, I don't know anything about why you started being a complete dick. Please, John, explain this bullshit to me, because I would love to know. I'm all fucking ears, Egbert, I got all night."

John's face started to flush with anger, "Stop it, Karkat. Our friends don't deserve to be in the middle of this."

This pissed Karkat off, "I don't know what fucking delusional happiness hole you've been living in for a year, but our friends are already in the deep shithole middle of this. In case you haven't noticed, they were kind of forced to pick sides from the motherfucking get-go. And that's not fucking fair," Karkat could feel his ears getting a hot with the argument, "And besides, this isn't even about them. It's about how you abandoned me, which I can't even conceive any fucking good reason for, so you know what, Egbert, fuck you. Fuck you for running away from your problems and for running away from me," he stormed out of the kitchen. He snatched his jacket and scooped up his shoes and walked out the front door without bothering to put either of them on.

He might have heard voices calling him, but he didn't give two shits. He couldn't be there anymore. Even if he slept in the fucking lobby all night, there was no way he could be in the same area as John "Soul-Crushing-Heart-Stomping-Douchebag-From-Hell" Egbert a second longer.

He just wanted to go home.


	6. Chapter 6

**So sorry this took so long for me to update. I've been rather busy with finding work, but I should be back up to speed now. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed /favorited/alerted this story. You guys mean so much to me, thank you! **

**So I got a question about this, so I thought I'd clarify: Karkat's size concerns derive from him believing he goes from way-to-small-and-pathetic-looking to way-to-big-and-bulging-and-disgusting. This is something that Karkat constructed in his mind as a problem, so therefore he is self-conscious. His former partner, Eridan, didn't really understand the problem, either, so his words, though well meant, did little to ease Karkat's worries. His self-esteem on the matter does not stem from facts or other's opinions, but from his own mind.**

**I hope that cleared things up. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy.**

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><p>"Karkat, wait!" John heard Jade call from the other room, but the door's slam had cut off her plea.<p>

Crap. He had really screwed up, hadn't he?

"What the hell, what happened?" Terezi demanded. The group stared at him when he quickly barged into the living room as a delayed attempt to stop Karkat from leaving. Their faces held confusion with a hint of disappointment. Jade seemed a little more hurt than the others. It made him feel like shit. Terezi continued, "Seriously, I'm really fucking confused, what just happened?"

"It's alright, Terez, John's just being a completely unironic shit," Dave answered. John knew he was right, and a bad feeling of dread settled in his stomach. He was being a complete shit. Unironically.

Terezi made a face, "Okay, that's dandy, but that wasn't very detailed. I'm sorta impaired here, ya gotta be a little more specific."

"We would all like an explanation," Rose reiterated calmly to John from her place on the couch. The others mumbled their agreement.

They all waited expectantly. Surely they were expecting some perfectly respectable reasoning behind all of this that would somehow make it okay. But he didn't have a good answer for them. He didn't have a good answer for himself, and he didn't have a good answer for Karkat. He didn't know what to say. He was just being stupid, and they all knew it. He would just disappoint all of them by trying to explain that he didn't have an explanation. He couldn't stand to disappoint his friends. But maybe he's already done just that.

"Well, ah I…" He stammered. He still couldn't think of anything to justify what just happened, "I just…I don't know…" he trailed off. That's it. That's the best he could manage. It was pathetic.

"Well whatever the fuck it was, you should probably go fix it. Just saying," Dave said with a raise in his eyebrow, "I can't watch this soap opera again. It was too sad the first time. You guys need to stop being royal cape wearing dickholes with your high and mighty crowns so far up your asses they're practically in the clouds and sort out your shit or something," He paused, as if waiting for some reaction on John's part, then continued, "Seriously. This is painful to watch."

The group seemed to collectively nod at this statement.

Well great. He had to go confront Karkat. His least favorite activity. He knew it was for the best, but he was too much of a coward. He couldn't "sort out his shit." He was bad at this. Whatever he said was just going to make Karkat more pissed off. Maybe John just didn't want to admit that he'd been wrong this whole time. Maybe he'd spent so many of his thoughts justifying his actions when they weren't really justifiable. Man, this was getting really heavy. Well, it was already heavy, he supposed…

God, his thoughts were so jumbled. He couldn't think. The only thought he had was the word 'stupid.' _Stupid This is stupid. You're stupid. How could you be so stupid? How?_ There was a lot of pressure to do and say the right thing right now and he didn't think he could do it.

His thoughts just kept circling. They were such a mess, and he didn't know how to sort them. He hated thoughts and feelings. They were hard to deal with, and even harder to talk about. What was he going to say to Karkat? What was he going to say to his friends?

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice someone stand and quietly exit the apartment.

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><p>Actually, the lobby was pretty fucking boring. Karkat had only been sitting there for about five seconds and he already wanted to die. What the fuck do assholes do when there's a fucking storm outside? How the hell do people deal with being so damn bored? Ugh. What a fucking night. He could go for a smoke. But considering the conditions outside, a wank would also do. He debated it for a while. He had nothing better to do than to jiz up and down a bathroom wall and violate several health regulations, so why the fuck not?<p>

The public bathroom in this place was tiny, only one stall and urinal. He couldn't complain, though, it's not like he lived here. All the residents have their own damn bathroom anyway, so it's a fucking shocker that they even bothered to include a public one. He entered the stall and locked it he leaned against the probably disgusting wall and sighed. He wasn't actually too up to this. He was just bored. And jacking off is apparently good for the body, at least according to the internet. But then again, it's the internet.

He unzipped and slid the fabric away from his cock. It was half mast and Karkat hadn't even noticed. Fuck, he was more distracted than he thought. The less he tried to think about this shitty rumpus asshole drama going on, the more he found himself lost in thought about it. It was annoying.

He ran his fingers up and down his shaft to get him to stop thinking. It wasn't working. The only thing on his mind was John, and he wouldn't go away. Karkat wrapped his hand around himself in frustration and began to pump, slowly at first.

Thoughts of _that night_ were clouding his mind, though. This was the memory Karkat had masturbated to ever since it happened. The reverie was so vivid every time: they stumbled into John's place completely shit faced, laughing about how fucked up the other one was. They fell on the couch together. John was talking about something when somehow their faces ended up about an inch from each other. John was the one to make the first move, diving in for a kiss. It was eager, full of lust. Karkat responded with an equal amount of passion, grabbing John's shoulder and waist to pull him closer. Before they knew it, they had stripped each other of their clothing and they were tangled in each other. . They didn't even screw that night. They just jerked each other off while kissing and biting and moaning.

Karkat moved his hand faster, harder, like he needed this for his life. Fuck, it felt good. His breath got heavy, his mind ceased creating coherent thoughts. He was close. So close. "Cumming…" He whined to the empty bathroom as the orgasm surged through him. As it released, he let out a final moan and came in his hand. Everything was quiet except for his panting.

Shit, he felt gross. Karkat hated post-masturbation. He always felt like the scum of the earth and wanted to go crawl in his shame hole and die there. He got this pathetic feeling in the pit of his gut, like he was such a fucking assbag loser shithat that he couldn't get a boyfriend of his own to satisfy his sex crave so his hand had to take up the task of calming his horny dick.

It didn't really make complete sense to him. All he knows is that he hates himself after a jerk.

"I do hope you enjoyed yourself."

Karkat jumped, running himself into the wall of the stall and smearing his semen everywhere simultaneously. Fuck, who the fuck talks to a stranger in the bathroom, especially if you just heard them orgasm? Fucking sick ass bastard, "None a yer business, ya sick-o. Ya wanna come watch next time, fuck, this ain't a fucking peep show," he shouted back at whoever this creep was and proceeded to assess all the damage his cum-covered hand had done. For starters, it got on his shirt. His favorite fucking shirt. He should slug the guy with a knuckle sandwich with a side of sperm and see how he fucking likes it.

That was the stupidest thing he'd ever thought.

"I'm not terribly interested in partaking in such activities with you, so why not remove yourself from what I'm guessing is a filth-ridden stall so we can talk."

Wait. That's a girl's voice. And there's only one girl he knows of who would willingly stand in a boys' bathroom and listen to him jack off just so they could 'talk.'

"Fuck, Kanaya, what the hell are you doing here? This is a guys' bathroom," It was the only thing Karkat could think of to shout to get her to go away for a while so he could clean himself up. He doesn't really feel up to revealing his junk to Kanaya right now.

"The gender affiliation of this facility does not faze me, Karkat, and you are well aware of that. If you would like, I could turn away while you perform whatever washing ritual you have, but I am not leaving until we speak. This is urgent," Her tone of voice became more stern, and Karkat became a little frightened of her. But just a little.

"Okay, fine, Jesus!" he gave in, "Turn the fuck around, I'll be done in a sec…"


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you everyone who has been reviewing and alerting this! I would have stopped a long time ago if it weren't for you guys. A longer chapter this time to compensate for the really short one last time. Enjoy!**

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><p>Karkat finished drying his hands and tossed away the damp paper towel into the trash bin. He could only see it because of the flashlight someone had left on the counter that he decided to turn on, stand up on its end and use as the conksuckiest lamp he'd ever seen. He figured why the hell not. It was probably left there for this fucking purpose anyway.<p>

He reexamined the small stain on the bottom of his shirt and gave another frustrated sigh. Fucking great. He couldn't wear his favorite shirt anymore. Excellent, "So what the fuck do you want?" He asked, still staring at the stain. It really bothered him that he got cum on it. He didn't even have anyone to stick the blame to, really. He couldn't be mad at Kanaya. That would be unfair as fuck. She didn't mean to make you stain your shitty favorite shirt, and you didn't mean to jump four feet in the air and run sweater-first into cum. But maybe it didn't look that bad. Maybe it just looked like a bit of bleach got on it or something…

Oh, who was he kidding? It was so obviously a semen sweater. Dammit.

"I wanted to discuss with you what recently transpired in John and Jade's apartment," Kanaya began, also eyeing the stain. There was a tinge of guilt in her eyes, but she didn't apologize for the condition of the shirt.

Karkat looked at her finally, "Why? I thought it was pretty self explanatory."

She continued, "John seems rather upset about the whole thing-"

"He doesn't have any damn right to be upset!" Karkat blurted. He couldn't help it, he was furious. John was upset? He could suck it the fuck up. He had cut Karkat as deep as the fucking Grand Canyon, and 'he feels bad?' No. That was bullshit, "He brought this upon himself after he was a complete and utter asshole to me,"

"That's a little unfair-" Kanaya tried to say, but Karkat cut her off again.

"What's unfair his how he treated me, Kanaya. Or has everyone forgotten that?" he flung out his hands in some sort of grand gesture to imply emphasis, but he was pretty sure he just looked like a dumb-as-fuck bird.

Anger started to swell in her voice as she spoke again, "You are acting incredibly childish, Karkat."

"I'll act as childish as I fucking want!"

In through the door burst Jade. She immediately began shouting back, "Calm your fucking ass, Karkat, before I calm it for you!"

"What the hell are you doing in a dude's bathroom?" It was the only think he could think of to shout back. He isn't too quick on the draw.

"Who fucking cares? You need to stop taking out your anger on poor Kanaya and listen for a damned second!" Jade shut him up. Despite her mostly sweet as shit temper, she's especially talented at fighting fire with fire when it comes to Karkat. When he gets this angry, he only responds with a dominate show of forceful fuckery. And Jade had that down to a damned 't.'

Silence proceeded over the restroom. Jade's face relaxed, seemingly letting go of all the anger she just displayed and returned to her normal mild manner, "Now. Let's talk, shall we?" She turned her head to Kanaya, "Kanaya, would you like to say something? Without interruption?" she gave Karkat an intense side-eye upon her final words.

Kanaya recomposed herself as well, "I am just concerned about the current situation and I want to clarify Karkat's end of the story,"

Karkat opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it upon Jade's glare, "Would you like to say anything else Kanaya?"

"No," She said, "I would rather hear Karkat's explanation and brainstorm on ways to fix this."

"I shouldn't-" Karkat began, but was immediately met with Jade's forceful, "Shoosh, you," He grumbled at being treated like a fucking snot-nosed child, but then, he was acting like one, so it was only fair, he supposed.

"Now I would like to say something," Jade began, folding her hands around each other, "Karkat, I know John hurt you, but he didn't mean to. He won't say it because he's bad with talking, but he cares about you and he is sorry," Karkat couldn't help but try to interrupt, but was cut off, "And I know it doesn't mean anything coming from me, because you want to hear it from him. I want you two to talk and get this over with. I think I will be speaking for everyone when I say this is ridiculous and has gotten out of hand. So get the fuck over yourself."

Harsh. But Karkat no longer had words to say. Jade was completely right. He was being stupid. Everything about today, everything about this situation, was completely idiotic and incredibly childish. He was twenty-fucking-four, for heaven's fucking sake, he needed to stop holding stupid grudges. God, he hated himself now. He just wanted to crawl in a hole and die. But that's the only thing he ever did. Crawl in his hole and ignore the world and focus on his own petty problems that don't matter. Nothing about him mattered, really, and he doesn't really give a shit about himself. Yet Jade and Kanaya care about him. And John apparently cared. He didn't understand this. What was he worth? Headaches and arguments? That' all he's good for.

"Karkat?"

He realized he had been staring at his feet for a long time. He jossled himself from his thoughts and looked up. The two women before him watched with worried faces.

They cared.

That was good enough for him.

"I'll go talk to John,"

He moved past the pair and darted out of the bathroom as dramatic as all fucking get-go, only to stop in his tracks because it was fucking dark everywhere. Why does he keep forgetting that one needs light to fucking see?

The proceeded cautiously after that, but still at a quicker-than-a-grandma pace. He reached 407 without tripping over the dark and hesitated. What if John didn't want to talk to him anymore? What if he was happy about this whole thing? Oh God, that was stupid to think, too. Karkat was being a fucking idiot. Jade had just reassured him that everything would be fine. But it didn't stop the knots from forming in his stomach. Speaking of Jade, he was surprised that she and Kanaya were not following him. Or perhaps they were, and he just hadn't noticed.

Thunder struck. He heard a yelp from beyond the door and only assumed that had to be Terezi. That or John's dog. It was a little hard as shit to tell, actually.

He raised his fist to knock, but stopped again. He realized that the door was probably unlocked. He debated storming into the room and demanding to speak with John in private. But considering how rude he had been earlier, he decided that that wasn't the best course of action here. Maybe he should just wait for John to come to him?

So he just stood there like a fucking incapable asshole with his knuckled hovering inched from the surface of the door. He chewed on his lip ring as he stared at his shoes. His toes were cold, he realized. Fucking storm. Fucking snow. Fuck.

The door flew open and Karkat jumped back. Dave stood on the other side of the threshold. Without his sunglasses on. It was strange to see Dave without them, because he squints slightly at everything in order to try to put things into focus. Karkat guesses that it must have gotten too dark for him to see properly with them on.

"Sup." Dave gave him a nod.

Karkat just looked at him.

Dave leaned on the doorway as he continued, "You ready to stop being a dripping ass tampon? Because I am. No one likes shit drenched menstruation products."

"Shuttup, that's fucking gross, dude." Karkat pushed past Dave and into the living room, "And yes, I'm done being an assweed."

"Good," Dave closed the door, "because John's waiting for you in his room 'cause he's sulking in his room like a fucking baby. I mean what the fuck is this, elementary school? Jesus, you two need to sort out your buttsores like adults."

"I told you to shut the fuck up, Dave, I fucking get the damn point,"

"Just sayin'," He went to sit at the coffee table with Rose and Terezi, who had cards sprawled out between them. He wrapped his arm around Terezi, who was nestled in a blanket, and rubbed her back affectionately.

Karkat rolled his eyes and turned around to walk down a small hallway and knocked on the last door on the right before he could have second thoughts.

John opened the door. All that could be seen was a silhouette.

"CanIcomein?" Karkat asked quickly enough so that the phrase sounded like one word. He was nervous. Really nervous. What if he fucks this up again? He has a temper like the fires of hell itself and everyone knew that. What if he explodes again and John won't give him any more chances?

Fuck. He ran his teeth on his lip ring again.

"Yeah, sure," John's silhouette stepped back to let Karkat in.

He brushed past John. His heart jumped. They were so close to each other. But he didn't just want a graze of shoulders. He wanted touching. He wanted his hands on John's neck and hips and chest. He wanted to throw those dorky hipster shit glasses across the room and mess up that kid's hair.

Shit, he was getting hard. That was not the objective here.

John closed the door, "Take a seat, or something. Or stand. I guess it doesn't really matter, considering it's pitch fucking dark in here…" John scratched his neck anxiously, "I could…get a candle? Or whatever…" He trailed off again.

"That would be nice. Considering I can't fucking see." Karkat replied. It was a little more gruff than he had intended. And it seemed to scare John, considering be practically bounded out of the room to get a source of light.

When John returned with a flashlight, he did as Karkat had done earlier and made it function like a lamp, then turned to Karkat, who took a seat on the edge of the bed, "What did you want to talk about?"

Karkat took a brief glace around the familiar, rather untidy room. Posters of various movies covered the walls and random nerdy memorabilia was scattered about the place. It smelled nice, though. Clean. Like John always did.

"I wanted to say sorry," Karkat spit out without looking to John, "And I want to hear your side," He finally made eye contact, "What the hell happened? I'm really fucking confused about this whole stupid thing and I'd rather it be over."

John stood for a second, then sat beside Karkat, "I'm confused, too, dude. I didn't know what to do, you know?" He paused, wringing his hands in his lap, "You were always so sure about…your sexuality. And I've just learned that I might like the dick and I don't know how to deal with that."

"You don't really know how to deal with anything," Karkat blurted out. Fuck, he's too good at being accidentally mean.

"Thanks, asshole," John shot back, "Anyway, Vriska and I were dating for a long time, and then she just dropped this breakup on me, and I was emotional. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming her. She did what she had to do, and I don't hold any grudges. She did what was best for her, and I can't be mad at her for that. I'm not really mad at anyone-"

"Holy shit, I didn't want to hear your ramblings about your whole life fucking story," Karkat interrupted. Damn, he'd done it again.

"It's important, okay? Now shut up. When we had our…thing…I didn't know how to respond, okay? I didn't realize I cared about you that much. And I've been struggling with what we are for a long time. And it's hard to figure out on my own," John put his head in his hands like he was ashamed, "I'm so sorry, dude. This is so stupid. I should have just talked to you,"

"Why didn't you?" Karkat asked softly. He hadn't known. He just thought John was being a dick. He should have known better. John wasn't a dick. Not on purpose, anyway. He looked out for people. He's just bad at doing that for himself.

"I didn't want you to be upset, or I was embarrassed, or I thought you wouldn't want anything to do with me, or whatever the fuck I was thinking," John removed his face from his palms and looked at Karkat, "I just wanted to try and fix it on my own and it didn't work. I just fucked it up. I fucked everything up. I'm not worth your time anymore, and I underst-"

Karkat grabbed John's face and kissed him. Their lips smashed together with a driving force that Karkat wanted to continue, because John felt good against him and he bet that his tongue would feel even better. But he pulled away quickly. He didn't want to scare John away again, "You talk too much."

John gave him a toothy smile, "I think I like you, dude."

Karkat's lip twitched up into the smallest of smiles, "I like you, too, fuckass."

John's eyes flickered downward, "Your hard on is showing. Want me to fix that?"

"Yes. Please."


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry it took me so long to get this out. Thank you so much to all those who reviewed and alerted and favorited this story. You people are wonderful and make my life that much happier. Please, if there are any comments or questions or suggestions, please please please don't be afraid to tell me. Enjoy.**

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><p>Before John could think about what he was doing, he was upon Karkat. John was chewing his lip nervously, a habit he no doubt he got from this attractive man before him. He glanced down once again to Karkat's generous bulge. He swallowed heavily, and then looked back up to Karkat, giving him a dorky smile. Man, he was gorgeous. He had wonderful dark brown eyes with the tiniest hint of a honey color mixed in. They seemed to catch the best of the dim light around the room. John's gaze moved over Karkat's thin frame and down to is cock once more. Shit, this kid was fucking beautiful. How come John never took the time to admire him?<p>

"Are you going to do anything about my obnoxious hard-on or are you just going to keep checking out my junk until the cows come home? 'Cause I'm not doing this all night, ya fruitcake." Karkat interrupted John's thoughts loudly.

"Oh. Uh," John jumped slightly, "I'm just. You know. The last time we did stuff like this, we were trashed, remember? It's harder to do it when I'm completely sober. I get in my head too much."

Karkat rolled his eyes, "I hope you realize how much of a helpless dweeb you are. Seriously I could have banged someone three times in the time it's taken you muster up the courage to even get this close to me."

"Shuttup!" John shoved Karkat's shoulder, "This is hard for me. I'm coming to terms with the fact that my sexuality is different so you can suck my dick."

"Present it," Karkat stated. His eyebrows wiggled at John, "And only if you return the favor," he added quickly.

John was silent for a while. He thought of the prospect of this, and as he did, he could feel blood rushing to his member. He bit his lip and blushed, "I…I would actually like that. If, of course, you're willing…"

Karkat pushed John, making him fall onto his back on the bed. Karkat then crawled to hover over him. Karkat leaned close to John's ear, and with a nibble on his lobe, he whispered, "I have been waiting for this for a long time."

John shivered in anticipation. His cock bulged again. He didn't know what to think. As Karkat moved down his body, John's brain went haywire. He liked this. But it was foreign, and he didn't cope well with new feelings. He was gay. Or maybe he was bi. Or pansexual? He didn't understand what was happening. Karkat began to unbutton John's jeans. John moaned, "Karkat…?"

Karkat ignored him and continued working on removing John's pants.

"Karkat," John said with a little more force.

"Jesus Christ, at this rate, the snow will melt before we do anything," Karkat complained, stopping his progress and looking at John, "Do you even want to do this, John? Am I just wasting everyone's time like an asshole here? Would someone tell me if I was being a fucking-"

"Karkat! Let me finish!" John practically shouted. This shut Karkat up, "You don't understand how confused I am right now."

"You're just being a fucking baby," Karkat spat. This hurt. A lot. John felt his ribcage thud in time with his hammering heart, it's rhythm doubled from panic. His stomach turned into knots and a lump developed in his throat. Karkat hated him still. But before John could speak, Karkat continued, "You're getting too much into your head too damn much and missing the big fucking picture. Do you like it when I do-" Karkat grabbed rather forcefully at John's package, making John forget his concerns. His eyes widened in surprise at the sudden gesture and his mouth gaped slightly, a whine hanging on his tongue, "-this?" Karkat finished.

John did like it. He moaned a little as he wiggled ever so slightly underneath Karkat's grip, which slowly turned into a messaging motion as Karkat continued, "Since that's obviously a 'yes,' you should stop thinking and start fucking appreciating, God dammit," Karkat stopped groping, much to John's dismay, but it was probably for the best so he could pay attention as Karkat kept talking, "I'm doing this just for you, you asshole, because I happen to fucking like you. Like, a fucking lot. And I'm willing to forgive you for all the shit you put me through. But if you don't fucking like me, that's cool, but at least tell me before I sacrifice myself on the altar of humiliation for you like a fruity fucking sheep bound for the slaughter by the Fuck You tribe."

"What?" It was the only thing John could think of to say in return.

"I'm fucking saying that communication is fucking key here you flaming dickwad. You need to fucking talk to me 'cause this feels an awful lot like a one ended conversation with the occasional shitty comment from you."

They stared at each other, both expecting the other to say something.

Karkat broke their silence, "Jesus Christ what the fuck, talk to me!" he shouted.

But the only thing John could do was grab Karkat by the back of the neck and pull him down into a kiss. A rather rough one, too. Before John could get into his head about this, he ran his tongue over Karkat's lip ring, making him let out a small whine of pleasure. Karkat shifted his weight to his knees and began to slide his hand under John's shirt as their faces mashed together in a fury of lips and tongues and teeth. Karkat's hands were cool against John's skin, but John tried not to care, even though he kind of did. It was fucking cold around here, but he supposes he can't blame Karkat for being chilly. Or for using John as a personal hand warmer. But his touch felt nice either way, so whatever.

Karkat broke their kiss just long enough to tug the shirt over John's head and lightly touch the tattoo that marked his chest. _Remember who you are._ A Lion King quote in fancy lettering with a symbol of Breath in the middle. To remember that game they played as kids. It was actually a beautiful design. Karkat pressed his lips to it then trailed his tongue down John's torso. John arched his back slightly and Karkat made his way down to the edge of John's briefs, "Your underwear is fucking stupid," Karkat pointed out, "Who the fuck wears briefs?"

"I do, you asshole," John said, looking down at him.

"I'm just sayin'," Karkat shimmied John's pants down his legs and finally off his body.

John felt incredibly vulnerable in that moment. Probably because he was stark naked while Karkat examined him with a hungry look in his eye. John didn't like this feeling. He tried to coil up slightly to cover his bits and pieces when Karkat grabbed John's thighs and pushed them into the mattress, "John, don't try to fucking hide the fact that you're naked. Just accept it," John's stomach turned as Karkat began to remove the pressure from his legs and ran his hands lightly over John's legs and hips, "You're fucking beautiful, did you know that?" Karkat breathed.

John's heart jumped in excitement. He didn't mind being called beautiful, not in the slightest. He considered it the highest compliment from Karkat, and he couldn't help but blush, "You're not too bad yourself," he replied with a dorky smile.

Karkat leaned down and placed a kiss to John's shaft. John shuttered. It felt wonderful. Then another kiss. Then a tongue. Then-

"Aah," John moaned. Karkat had taken John into his mouth. It was warm and soft and felt so good. John arched his back as Karkat went deeper and deeper, making slow work of John's erection, "Oh god, Karkat," John whined, his voice a higher pitch than before, "Karkat, your clothes…"

Karkat slid his mouth gently off John and asked, "What?"

"Your clothes," John repeated, "I would feel better if we both didn't have clothes on."

Karkat sighed, "Finally. I've been waiting for you to say something about that."

John helped Karkat wiggle out of his clothes and this time it was John with the hungry look in his eyes. Karkat was absolutely gorgeous. He didn't remember Karkat looking this damn good the last time they were naked together (but then again, they were drunk).

Karkat had a slim build, but had some muscles on his arms and abdomen like he could take someone on in a fight. John could only assume Karkat was self-conscious about his frame and decided to work out a little. His blonde hair was disheveled, which made John find him more attractive. He continued looking moving his eyes down Karkat's body when he came across something on Karkat's thigh, "I didn't know you had a tattoo here," John said, reaching out and running his hand over it. It was a red Celtic dragon wrapped around his leg with flames emanating from it, "When did you get this?"

"Shortly after we stopped talking," Karkat said, "It was kind of stupid, really, but I still like it."

"It's awesome," John said, "I think we should try sex," commented casually as though he was talking about the weather.

"Well that was fucking fast. If my tattoo was all I needed to get some out of you, I would have de-pants'd earlier."

"Dude, shuttup," John leaned across his bed to his nightstand and grabbed a bottle of lube and a condom from the drawer, "Take the damn lube and condom."

"I'm not sure if you want this, fuckass. It's gonna fucking hurt. A fucking lot," Karkat eyed John. He was confused at John's sudden change of attitude, but then again, so was John. But John decided to take Karkat's advice and not think about it. They were both hard as hell and they needed to take care of it somehow.

"I know, I'm not an idiot, just take the damn lube before I change my mind again," John waved the lube and condom in front of Karkat's face, "I'm sure, okay? Just do it."

Karkat snatched the lube, "Fucking fine, but don't expect me to be gentle," he flung John's legs over his shoulders in a quick motion that startled John. Karkat squirted a generous amount of lube into his palm, "If you fucking interrupt me, I will end you so fucking fast…"

Karkat lathered his fingers in the lube and without warning shoved his middle finger into John. John gave out a gasp, "Fuck that's cold," Cold, but it felt good. It was a curious sensation, but he liked it.

"No shit, shut up, asshole," Karkat continued to work at stretching John.

John followed Karkat's instructions and let the strange feeling tickle his whole body. Karkat moved in and out of John faster and faster, and oh, did it feel amazing. Just as he thought about wanting more, Karkat inserted a second finger. John whined, "Aah, Karkat…"

Karkat's face was suddenly next to John's, whispering a soft, "Shooosh," into John's ear. This was followed by a small nibble on his lobe. Shivers shot down John's spine, making him tremble with pleasure. Another finger was added. That's when it started to actually hurt. John groaned in discontent.

"No sympathy," was Karkat's retort. He then planted a kiss to John's lips and moved faster. John tried not to complain, but Jesus, this was kind of painful.

Karkat pulled his fingers out, and grabbed for the lube again to apply to his junk, then opened the condom. Once lubed and wrapped, Karkat asked, "You ready?"

"Just do it, man," John reassured.

Then bam, penis in the ass. There it was. John was definitely not ready. But he just leaned back and gasped and moaned and took it. It was gonna start feeling good-

There. Right there. It felt sensational. The feeling emanated throughout John's body and made him feel like he was gonna explode. Karkat wielded John's cock as he pumped, faster and faster, moving his hand in time with his thrusts, "John," Karkat groaned, "Fucking Christ,"

"I-I'm gonna come," John breathed, "Karkat…"

They orgasmed together.

The pair of them lay there together, panting and kissing softly, Karkat growing soft inside John, "How was that?" Karkat asked, much more sweetly than his demeanor usually allowed. But John didn't question it.

"Great," John replied. Karkat finally pulled out and went to the bathroom to clean up. John didn't move, feeling too sore to try to get up.

"Do you want a wet hand towel or something?" Karkat called from the bathroom.

"Why not?" John felt rather gross. A wet towel would do wonders for him right now. Karkat tossed the towel at him and it landed straight on John's stomach. It was cold as fuck, "Jesus, warn me next time," John jumped and quickly grabbed up the towel.

"Oh get over it," Karkat was cleaning himself off with a towel of his own. John shuddered at the thoughts of placing the cold towel all over his bits, but he decided it was better than nothing.

After finally cleaning up, Karkat crawled next to John on the bed and wrapped his arms around him, "It'd better be okay if we snuggle," Karkat grumbled into John's neck.

"Absolutely."

The two of them drifted off to sleep tangled in each other.


	9. Chapter 9

**I apologize for the extended time between the last chapter and this one. I started work and school, and my life has been pretty crazy recently. Thank you to everyone who's bee following this story. You people are wonderful. This chapter is rather short and it's the finale. So. Sorry about that. Next I'll try to write a GamzeexTavros but we'll see how that goes. Enjoy.**

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><p>Karkat woke. In his arms, John continued to sleep peacefully, but with this obnoxious little snore that made Karkat wonder how he could have slept through it.<p>

He had no idea what time it was, but it was still relatively dark outside. He rose quietly as to not rouse John from his slumber. Karkat then found his boxers and pulled them over his hips. After that was his jeans, then he browsed through John's closet and chose a very soft sweater to cover his torso. It was a v-neck, which was stupid, but Karkat didn't really care at the moment. He looked back at John. He was adorable. Karkat leaned down and planted a soft kiss to John's forehead which caused his to moan slightly and shift. He then launched himself into a sitting position and looked around, "Karkat?"

"Oh my fucking God, what?" Karkat replied.

"I thought you left…" John admitted, rubbing his eyes and blushing slightly

"Where the fuck would I go?" Karkat sat on the edge of the bed and handed John his glasses from the nightstand.

John put them on, "I don't know…away?" He inched his hand into Karkat's, "I just don't want to mess this up again."

They stared at each other. Then Karkat pressed a kiss to John's lips, "I don't want to this fucked up, either, dumbass."

"Is that my sweater?"

"Shut the fuck up."

As John dressed, Karkat went to the kitchen to make coffee. Then realized that the last time he checked, the power was out. He decided he would at least turn something on to see if it worked. He tipped-toed around his sleeping friends, all piled in the living room on couches and sleeping bags. He felt bad for ignoring them yesterday. He would have to apologize, as much as he hated saying sorry. His friends deserved it, though.

Karkat checked the kitchen. To his surprise, the appliances seemed to be working. The stove and the microwave were blinking the wrong time at him and a small red light emanated from the coffee pot. He turned on the light just to make sure. It worked to his delight.

"Fuuuuuck, stop fucking with the fucking light," Dave mumbled from the other room.

"Oh fuck," Karkat clicked it off. That was really fucking stupid. Now he was wondering why he thought that was a good idea in the first place.

John was dressed by then and in the living room, "The power's back?"he whispered.

"Obviously, dipshit," Karkat replied.

"Shit, dudes, if you guys are gonna have a fucking conversation like a couple of assholes, then I might as well get up, too," Dave mumbled again, this time into Terezi's back.

Terezi lunged up with her cane in her fist threateningly, "Huh what?" she sputtered sleepily.

"It's okay, Terez, it's just a couple of douchebag early-birds," Dave patted her shoulder.

"To the gallows," She replied, clearly still mostly asleep.

Dave sat up, too, "Yes, hang the bastards,"

Slowly, each of them woke, "We didn't mean to wake you guys," John said, "Sorry about that,"

"And sorry about last night," Karkat pitched in quickly before he lost the nerve to say anything.

"You guys are fine," Jade said, "I'm just glad you two made up,"

"Oh, they made up alright," Dave contributed, "Made up right up their asses."

"What the fuck, Dave?" Karkat almost shouted.

"Hey, I don't give a flying fuck if you two are a couple of queer weirdos having a good time. Shit ain't my place. I'm just glad you guys are no longer throwing drama bombs like it's a fucking world war."

John made breakfast. He and Karkat learned that the power had come back shortly after they went to sleep. The group then took their breakfast to the living room and played Scrabble in piles of pillows and blankets and sleeping bags while they ate. By the end, Dave and Terezi had won and they paraded around the room rapping about being word masters.

The news reported that the roads were relatively clear-ish with a few exceptions. With this new found information, Karkat decided that he should go back to his place. Gamzee really shouldn't be left alone for so long, and in all honesty, Karkat was worried for his best friend.

So he decided to leave earlier than everyone else.

John told Karkat to keep the sweater. Karkat tried to pretend he was less happy about this than he actually was, but John smiled like he saw right through Karkat's stupid disguise. John said he would bring over Karkat's clothes later, and Karkat took that as a good excuse for John to visit.

John and Karkat exchanged their goodbye kisses with promises to see each other soon. The others whooped and hollered like they were in fucking grade school (mostly from Dave). As Karkat stepped out, he thought about how things were starting to get better. He stomped through the snow with a slight smile on his face and a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. It was cold as fuck out but his heart was warm for the first time in a long time. It was a strange feeling, but he could get used to it.

But with all this good-feeling crap, Karkat had to bring himself back down to Earth. Things weren't going to be perfect, and Karkat knew that. He was too angry to socialize with the general population and hated pretty much everything. Then there was John. John was happy and emotionally inept and socially challenged. That was a potentially flammable situation. They would get frustrated. They would fight. Of course. But maybe this time it'll take less than a year for them to work through it.


End file.
